Everyone's talking FIRE

Sally keeps subscribing to Amazon Prime...by accident. They're sneaky, I'm sure the shipping options are deliberately worded to trick you and, boom, she's joined (again) and we're signed up to a monthly payment. We cancelled it twice, but the third time, with quite a few purchases planned, we figured maybe it was worth it.

Six monthly payments later, I'm pretty sure it's not worth it. We're never desperate for a next day delivery, much of what we buy either has free shipping already, and most of the time we seem to be in a different country where the benefits of Prime don't apply.

Before I cancel it, I have one last idea. Can I make it pay by reading enough free Amazon Prime books? I'm fairly sure the answer will be no, but at least I'm enjoying the reading. My current book is Breakpoint by Ollie Ollerton, an autobiography by a former UK special forces soldier.

It's clearly not a book about FIRE, but some parts could be. For example, he described meeting some older guys from the corporate world who'd say to him:

I can't frickin¹ believe I'm still doing the same job. I just feel so lost. But because it provides me and my family with a certain lifestyle, I can't escape it.

¹ "frickin" is my word, you can probably guess the original word that he used.

Then on the next page:

Some people become lost in society's perception of what happiness is supposed to look like. Owning nice houses and expensive cars and watches is a way of justifying their existence. But how many times does cooking in your 50-grand kitchen, climbing into your 100-grand Porsche or looking at your 10-grand Rolex actually make you happy? For the first week, maybe? After that, not much.

I promise it's not a FIRE book, but those words certainly wouldn't be out of place in one.

Yesterday, as I was running a trail, I listened to the Danger Close podcast. My friend was on it so I figured I should listen. Not only was it good, it also gave me another quote:

If you put something off, you probably won't do it

By the way, my friend on the podcast is someone I interviewed for my blog some time ago, Adventurous early retirement. He had a similar outlook then, telling me that since he'd retired early:

I’ve become more focused on doing the things I want to do. Not just wishing I could do them, but figuring out that I can actually do them.

I aspire to that kind of thinking. Corporate life was a good excuse to not do things, to say I was too busy or too tired. I like that it's harder to use these excuses in my retired early life - I'm not always successful in doing the things I want or dream of, but I'm much better at it these days.

I should also say why my friend was on that podcast. When I interviewed him, he told me:

My big plan is to row the Atlantic

Well the crazy guy is actually going to do it. He's got a boat and presumably some oars, shipped it to New York and is currently waiting for the right weather conditions to set off. Oh, and did I say that he's doing it solo and unsupported? Yep, definitely crazy. If you want to find our more, follow his journey, or perhaps donate to the charities he's supporting, head to his website ny2uksolorow.co.uk or find him at @ny2uksolorow on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Fast forward a day, and another run has just finished, complete with another podcast quote:

Almost all of my decisions used to be based on money, now it's probably the least important factor

That sounds familiar. To get to FI included a focus on money, Once at FI, money seems to be much less important. Instead, I'd rather think about the things I can do, and remember that if I put my mind to it I can actually do them...so long as they're not completely crazy and definitely don't involve rowing solo across the Atlantic!